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Citizens of Tallahassee enjoy a high quality of life. From public safety to reliable utility services and everything in between, the City strives to maintain the highest caliber of service and keep its citizens at the heart of everything it does.

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The City of Tallahassee is focused on seeing the local economy thrive. Here you will find information on programs geared to small and big businesses alike, information on doing business with the City, employment opportunities within the organization and more.

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The day-to-day operations of the City of Tallahassee are as diverse as its citizenry. It is responsible for a variety of infrastructure as well as quality of life amenities. Be it a road project or budget report, the City strives to keep citizens as informed and involved as possible.

Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo has developed a Five Point Plan for the Tallahassee Police Department, intended to lead towards a long-term strategy to enhance public safety in the community. They are as follows:

1. Community Leadership Council on Gun Violence

To address the ongoing challenges related to gun violence, we are working to create a Community Leadership Council. The Council will help identify programs, solutions and initiatives as part of a comprehensive community plan to address gun violence to include social, educational, neighborhood, business, religious and criminal justice perspectives. Their efforts will include reviewing research, offering feedback from a personal perspective, identifying resources, hearing community input, and crafting potential solutions. Once a plan is in place the council's task will be to assist with program implementation and act as community advocates for reducing gun violence. Members of the Council are:

TPD's goal is to confront violent crime from a long term perspective, building relationships within city neighborhoods, as well as having the ability to aggressively address criminal activity wherever it occurs in the City. Two months ago a newly formed Community Policing Squad was deployed on Tallahassee's south side to focus on building community partnerships and restoring a quality of life that has been lost
because of protracted criminal activity. These officers ride bikes and walk throughout the neighborhood and are easily accessible to residents.

Through leadership from City Commissioners and the City Manager a significant step is being taken to address violence in Tallahassee. As part of the current budget process, the Commission has approved six additional police officer positions for Fiscal Year 2015 to help in the effort to reduce overall violence. The six additional positions will be used to create a Violent Crime Response Team, charged with confronting violence and targeting criminals throughout Tallahassee.

3. Strategic Plan

With these operational changes in place, the next step is development of a strategic plan that establishes direction and expected outcomes for all department activities. Development of the plan will involve representation of TPD members throughout all units and ranks, as well as critical input from community representatives. The plan will address operational priorities to include reducing overall crime in our community, identification of key areas for allocation of resources, and goals for personnel and organizational development.

4. Culture of Procedural Justice

A component of the strategic plan will include training and activities that cultivate a sense of respect and trust between all residents and TPD. Using a model of procedural justice the actions will be guided by fundamental fairness when dealing with people and the neutral application of legal principles. Department policies and procedures will be created and modified to follow community standards, ensure process transparency and consistency with best practices embraced by professional law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S.

5. Independent Policy Review

Included in our effort to align department policies with national best practices, TPD has contracted with the Police Executive Research Forum to review the department's critical policies, procedures, and related training curricula. The detailed review will include several critical areas:

Use of force

Report writing

Internal affairs investigations/complaint resolution

High-risk operations

Special investigations and confidential informants

Field training program

The assessment will identify and document the department's strengths and weaknesses relevant to critical policy areas. In addition, an assessment, to include member interviews and on-site reviews, will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the department's policy implementation training.

Promotion Announcement

In addition to the Five Point Plan, Chief DeLeo announced promotions to fill three critical leadership positions that are vacant due to retirements of long-term Command Staff members.

Deputy Chief Darrell Furuseth - Deputy Chief Furuseth started his career as a patrol officer with TPD in July 1990. He is an experienced professional with extensive experience in patrol operations and criminal investigations. He has played integral roles establishing successful organizational changes that not only improved crime fighting programs, but also improved overall efficiency. His educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Criminology and graduation from the FBI's National Academy.

Bureau Commander Audrey Smith - Major Smith joined TPD in January 1988. During her 26-year career she successfully served in a wide variety of operational and support assignments. Through her leadership several key department programs were implemented and have received state and federal recognition. Her educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, a Master's degree in Public Administration, and completion of Florida State University's Certified Public Manager Program.

Bureau Commander Lonnie Scott - Major Scott comes to TPD with 30 years of law enforcement experience at the Gainesville Police Department. He has wide operational experience along with a history of working successfully with community groups and individual residents in Gainesville. His educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and completion of the Southern Police Institute's Command Officer's Development Course.